Tag: personal-finance

Why Are We Teaching Children About Financial Capital Before Human Capital?

The missing asset in school financial education There is a strange imbalance at the heart of financial education. Children are taught about money. They may learn about budgeting, saving, spending, borrowing, interest, pensions, and perhaps investing. These are useful topics. Nobody serious would argue that young people should leave school unable to understand debt, savings, … Continue reading Why Are We Teaching Children About Financial Capital Before Human Capital? →

Do Good Works Excuse Asset-Hoovering?

A financial advice firm may do visible good in its local community: supporting charities, funding financial education, sponsoring grassroots sport, planting trees, and gaining credentials such as B Corp status. These activities may be sincere and worthwhile. But they do not, on their own, answer a separate consumer-protection question. If the firm’s commercial model includes … Continue reading Do Good Works Excuse Asset-Hoovering? →

When Money Worries Become Health Worries: Why Income Security Is a Whole-Person Issue

Three-quarters of employees are now cutting back on routine healthcare because of the cost of living. That should stop us in our tracks. This is not just about people delaying a dental appointment, skipping an eye test, or putting off physiotherapy. It is a warning sign that financial pressure is spreading into every area of … Continue reading When Money Worries Become Health Worries: Why Income Security Is a Whole-Person Issue →

2.2 Million People Think Pension Engagement Is Pointless. That Should Worry Us All.

Ask My Pension is now in free beta at AskMyPension.app — built to help people ask clearer pension questions before they give up. A new report from People’s Pension should give everyone in financial planning pause. According to research reported by Zoe Wickens, one in eight employees — around 2.2 million people — say it … Continue reading 2.2 Million People Think Pension Engagement Is Pointless. That Should Worry Us All. →

One Mission. Four Doors.

Restoring human agency in financial and life decisions — through human support, AI-assisted systems, practitioner training, and safe recovery after financial harm. There is a simple idea sitting at the heart of the Academy of Life Planning. People do not need more systems that make them dependent. They need systems that help them recover their … Continue reading One Mission. Four Doors. →

The Advice Gap Isn’t the Real Problem. The Agency Gap Is.

For years, policymakers, regulators, pension providers, and financial institutions have worried about the "advice gap." How do we get more people saving? How do we encourage better pension outcomes? How do we help people invest for the future? These are important questions. But they overlook a more fundamental reality. You cannot save money you do … Continue reading The Advice Gap Isn’t the Real Problem. The Agency Gap Is. →

Introducing Get Secure: The Bridge to Freedom

For more than a decade, I have been asking a simple question. Why is it that the people who most need high-quality planning are often the people least able to access it? Traditional financial planning has largely been built around people who already have assets, investments, pensions, and wealth to manage. Yet millions of people … Continue reading Introducing Get Secure: The Bridge to Freedom →

Financial Planning or Financial Conditioning? Why Human Capital May Matter More Than Financial Products

The Octopus Money research is interesting — and in many ways encouraging. People who received guidance, structure, and support reported feeling more resilient, more hopeful, and more engaged with saving and investing. That matters. In summary, the survey suggests that people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds can experience significantly improved financial confidence and resilience when they … Continue reading Financial Planning or Financial Conditioning? Why Human Capital May Matter More Than Financial Products →

The Missing Asset in Britain’s Retirement Debate

Why Financial Planners Must Start Planning Human Capital — Not Just Pension Pots The Pensions Commission has warned, in the Pensions 2050: evidence and future priorities – interim report, that 15 million people are on course for inadequate retirement incomes. The proposed solutions will sound familiar: higher pension contributions, wider automatic enrolment, stronger retirement safeguards, … Continue reading The Missing Asset in Britain’s Retirement Debate →